document_title: Ready Player One (film)

question_text: who plays the voice of artemis in ready player one

text: Ready Player One (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Set in 2045, people seek regular escape from life through the virtual reality entertainment universe OASIS, co-created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow of Gregarious Games. After Halliday's death, a pre-recorded message left by his avatar Anorak announces a game, granting ownership of OASIS to the first to find the Golden Easter Egg within it which is locked behind a gate requiring three keys. The contest has lured a number of ‘gunters’, or egg hunters, and the interest of Nolan Sorrento, the CEO of Innovative Online Industries (IOI) who seeks to control OASIS himself. IOI uses a number of indentured servants and employees called "Sixers" to find the egg.[a]

text: Wade Watts is an orphaned teenager living in the slums, or ‘stacks’, of Columbus, Ohio, with his Aunt Alice. In the OASIS, his avatar, Parzival, is good friends with Aech, a virtual mechanic. Parzival befriends Art3mis, a well-known Gunter, sharing a common interest in Halliday's history. They review Halliday's life from the Archives with help of its Curator.  They learn Halliday had several regrets in life, including his unrequited love for Morrow’s wife Kira and losing Morrow as a friend after forcing him to sign away his part of Gregarious Games. Using this information, they solve the first two challenges of Anorak's game: a car race across an ever-shifting Manhattan cityscape and a search for Kira in the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Aech and his friends Daito and Sho follow suit, the five becoming known as the "High Five" on the OASIS scoreboards.

text: Sorrento learns of Parzival's identity through OASIS mercenary i-R0k, and attempts to sway Wade into joining IOI, but he refuses. In retaliation, Sorrento has IOI's head of operations F'Nale Zandor bomb Wade's stack, killing Alice. Art3mis' player, Samantha Cook, rescues Wade, but they are soon found by IOI. Samantha is captured and forced into IOI's servitude, while Wade is extracted by the other High Fivers – Helen (Aech), Toshiro (Daito), and Zhou (Sho). The group tracks down Samantha's location at IOI, and they remotely help her escape, allowing her to assist them in the OASIS as Art3mis.

text: The third challenge requires one to play Halliday's favorite Atari 2600 game, in a castle on Planet Doom, which Sorrento has protected with a force field. Parzival recruits other OASIS players to help the rebels attack the IOI forces around the castle. Art3mis deactivates the force field, allowing Parzival to reach the console, but Sorrento activates the Cataclyst, a bomb that kills all the avatars on Planet Doom. However, due to having won a coin from the Archive's Curator earlier, Parzival gets an extra life, proceeding to play through Adventure to find its Easter egg; he is awarded the last key. Opening the gate, he is greeted by Anorak and given a contract to sign; however, he recognizes it as the same contract Morrow signed to turn over his part of Gregarious and refuses. Anorak changes forms to be Halliday, revealing that the contract was the final test to make sure Parzival would not make the same mistakes he did. Parzival is given the Golden Egg and control of OASIS.

text: In the real world, Sorrento and Zandor fail to stop Parzival before he wins; they are quickly arrested for the bombing. Morrow, revealed to have been the Curator, offers his services to Wade; he gladly accepts. Wade decides to run OASIS with the other High Five, agreeing to ban IOI from forcing people into servitude and to shut down the OASIS twice a week for everyone to spend more time in the real world. Meanwhile, he and Samantha move into an apartment together.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Tye Sheridan as Parzival / Wade Watts, a Gunter who wishes to win so he can leave the stacks.
Olivia Cooke as Art3mis / Samantha Cook, a well-known Gunter who works with various allies to ensure the OASIS is kept free and out of the hands of IOI.
Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento, the CEO of Innovative Online Industries who seeks full control over the OASIS.
Lena Waithe as Aech / Helen Harris, a Gunter and long-time friend of Wade's who works as a mechanic in the OASIS.
T.J. Miller as i-R0k, a freelance dealer and mercenary often employed by IOI.
Simon Pegg as Curator / Ogden Morrow, a co-creator of the OASIS, who eventually left the company. He is concerned about how many people have developed an unhealthy dependency on the game.
Mark Rylance as Anorak / James Halliday, the deceased co-creator of the OASIS who reveals an Easter Egg hidden in the OASIS after his passing that grants control over the OASIS to its winner.
Philip Zhao as Sho / Zhou, a Gunter and one of the "High Five”. He is 11 years old in reality.[9]
Win Morisaki as Daito / Toshiro, a Gunter and one of the "High Five".
Hannah John-Kamen as F'Nale Zandor, IOI’s head of operations in the physical world and for their indentured servant programs.[9]

text: Additionally, Susan Lynch portrays Alice, Wade's aunt; Ralph Ineson portrays Rick, Alice's abusive boyfriend; Perdita Weeks portrays Karen "Kira" Underwood, Morrow's wife; Clare Higgins portrays Mrs. Gilmore, Wade's neighbor; and Letitia Wright portrays a rebel who can briefly be seen at the safe house. McKenna Grace and Lulu Wilson appear as elementary school children who use the OASIS.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Warner Bros. and De Line Pictures won an auction for the rights to Ernest Cline's novel Ready Player One in 2010, before it had been published.[10] Cline was set to write the script for the film, which Donald De Line and Dan Farah would produce.[10] Eric Eason rewrote Cline's script,[11] and Zak Penn was hired to rewrite the previous drafts by Cline and Eason. Village Roadshow Pictures came aboard to co-finance and co-produce the film with Warner Bros.[12] Steven Spielberg signed on to direct and produce the film, which Kristie Macosko Krieger also produced, along with De Line and Farah.[13] Ready Player One is Spielberg's first action-fantasy film since The Adventures of Tintin in late 2011.[14] Cline and Penn made several revisions while adapting the novel to film. Most of these changes were to eliminate scenes that would be uninteresting in a visual format, such as when Wade beats a high score in Pac-Man, or recites all the lines from the film WarGames.[15][16]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Three actresses were top-runners for the role of Art3mis: Elle Fanning, Olivia Cooke, and Lola Kirke;[17] In September 2015, Cooke was announced as having been cast in the coveted female lead role. In January 2016, Ben Mendelsohn joined the cast.[18] In February 2016, Tye Sheridan was confirmed as playing the lead role of Wade, after a lengthy nationwide casting call failed to produce an unknown for the part.[19] In March 2016, Simon Pegg joined the cast.[20] In April 2016, Mark Rylance joined the cast,[21] and in June 2016, T.J. Miller, Hannah John-Kamen and Win Morisaki also joined.[22][23][24][25] In July 2016, Philip Zhao joined the cast,[26] and Lena Waithe, Ralph Ineson, McKenna Grace, and Letitia Wright were later also announced to have been cast.[27][28][29][30]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Production was set to begin in July 2016.[23] Screenwriter Zak Penn tweeted on July 1, 2016 that the first week of filming had been completed.[31] In August and September 2016, filming took place in Birmingham, England; this included Livery Street in the Jewellery Quarter area of the city, which was extensively used, including the van chase that takes place towards the film's end. The chase was edited to make the street appear longer than it actually is. The backpackers hostel Hatters, also on Livery Street, was used for internal filming for a basement scene. The Ludgate Hill Car Park lot on Lionel Street, in which caravan homes were partially built was also used and a planned explosion there caused some local business and homes to call emergency services, as no prior notification were given by the production team. Other locations in the city included the former industrial area of Digbeth, in a rooftop scene that overlooks the Birmingham City Centre skyline. Some of the city's landmark buildings were erased and replaced with CGI buildings  to create a dystopian Ohio in the year 2045.[32][33] Principal photography ended on September 27, 2016.[34][35]

text: Visual effects and post-production[edit]

text: Spielberg worked with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to oversee the film's visual effects, meeting with ILM for 3 hours three times a week.[35] He has stated that "[t]his is the most difficult movie I've done since Saving Private Ryan."[35]

text: A significant part of the film takes place in a virtual space based on the Overlook Hotel in the film The Shining. This was mostly a digital recreation of the film using high-quality telecine of the original film, giving them some freedom of new camera angles and shots that could be generated from this recreation. The final film includes a combination of the original footage from The Shining and ILM's additional work. Only a few scenes in this sequence which involved real actors, such as the appearance of the Grady twins, required them to construct a faithful reproduction of The Shining's set for the actors to interact with. Finally, the sequence was post-processed to introduce film grain and other aging effects to make the new footage indistinguishable from the original film.[36]

text: ILM also had to faithfully produce digital recreations of several of the cultural references that appear throughout the film, including the DeLorean time machine, the Iron Giant, Chucky, and King Kong that was modeled after the 1933 version of the character.[37] The Tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park was also recreated using the same base model that ILM had previously created during the original film production.[37]

text: Cultural references[edit]

text: Ready Player One, as in the book, pays homage to popular culture from various time periods, mainly the 1970s and 1980s but also extending to the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s; reviewers have identified well over a hundred references to films, television shows, music, toys, video games, anime and comics from these eras.[38][39][40] Cline did not have any issues with these copyrighted elements when he published the book, but was aware that securing all necessary rights would be a major obstacle for a film adaptation. This task was eventually made easier thanks to Spielberg's reputation in the film industry.[15] Spielberg and producer Kristie Macosko Krieger spent several years securing the rights for the copyrighted elements used in the film long before filming began, knowing that some scenes would not be possible without certain copyrighted elements.[41][42] In the end, Spielberg estimated that they managed to get about 80% of the copyrighted elements they wanted[15], noting that in some cases, the filmmakers were able to secure rights for some but not all the characters they wanted. In negotiating with Warner Bros., they could not secure Close Encounters of the Third Kind from Columbia Pictures, despite the latter being one of Spielberg's first films as director.[43]

text: Blade Runner, which was integral to the plot of the book, was off-limits as Blade Runner 2049 was in production at the same time as Ready Player One; as a replacement, the creative team had the players play through the events of The Shining, which Spielberg was able to secure the rights to as an homage to his friend Stanley Kubrick.[15] While Cline's original work heavily used the character of Ultraman, the rights over the character were still under legal dispute, requiring them to replace Ultraman with the titular robot from The Iron Giant.[44] Spielberg recognized that his past films were a significant part of the 1980s popular culture cited in the book, and to avoid being accused of "vanity", he opted to remove many of the references to his own work.[45] Cline stated that he believed Spielberg wanted to avoid self-references to films he directed, due to the criticism he received for his film 1941, which lampooned his own previous works Jaws and Duel. Cline said he had to convince Spielberg to include some iconic elements, such as the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future, which Spielberg conceded as the film was one he produced rather than directed.[46] Spielberg also allowed the Tyrannosaurus rex from his own Jurassic Park to be included.[37] Cline also asked ILM to include a reference to Last Action Hero, one of Penn's first screenplays, without Penn's knowledge.[47]

text: Music[edit]

text: On June 9, 2016, Variety stated that Spielberg's regular collaborator John Williams was planning to compose the film's score.[48] However, in July 2017, it was reported that Williams had left the project to work on Spielberg's The Post instead, with Alan Silvestri hired to take over scoring duties for Ready Player One.[49] The official score was released by WaterTower Music as a two-CD set on March 30, 2018,[50] with vinyl and cassette releases projected for the summer.[51] At Spielberg's request, Silvestri references his own music from Back to the Future within the film's score, as well as quoting the music by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind from The Shining for the film's sequence at the Overlook Hotel.[52]

text: The film also includes licensed music from the 1970s and 1980s, which appears on the digital-only soundtrack album Ready Player One: Songs From the Motion Picture.

text: showOriginal SoundtrackNo.TitlePerformed byLength1."I Wanna Be Your Lover"Prince5:482."Everybody Wants to Rule the World"Tears for Fears4:123."Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"The Temptations3:494."Stand on It"Bruce Springsteen3:065."One Way or Another"Blondie3:276."Can't Hide Love"Earth, Wind & Fire4:097."Blue Monday"New Order7:248."Stayin' Alive"Bee Gees4:459."We're Not Gonna Take It"Twisted Sister3:3810."You Make My Dreams"Hall & Oates3:1211."Pure Imagination (feat. Merethe Soltvedt)"Bryan Nguyen2:33

text: showReady Player One (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)No.TitleWriter(s)Length1."The Oasis"Alan Silvestri1:492."Hello, I'm James Halliday"Alan Silvestri2:013."Why Can't We Go Backwards?"Alan Silvestri4:184."An Orb Meeting"Alan Silvestri4:115."Real World Consequences"Alan Silvestri3:306."Sorrento Makes an Offer"Alan Silvestri3:347."Welcome to the Rebellion"Alan Silvestri3:148."High 5 Assembles"Alan Silvestri4:249."Orb of Osuvox"Alan Silvestri3:4510."Sorrento Punked"Alan Silvestri3:5711."Wade's Broadcast"Alan Silvestri5:5112."Arty on the Inside"Alan Silvestri2:3313."Looking for a Truck"Alan Silvestri5:3614."She Never Left"Alan Silvestri2:4115."Last Chance"Alan Silvestri3:2116."Get Me Out of This"Alan Silvestri1:3517."Hold on to Something"Alan Silvestri5:1418."This Is Wrong"Alan Silvestri3:4919."What Are You?"Alan Silvestri3:2920."There's Something I Need to Do"Alan Silvestri5:0121."Main Title"Alan Silvestri2:2722."End Credits"Alan Silvestri8:04

text: Release[edit]

text: Ready Player One was initially scheduled to be released on December 15, 2017,[53] but was pushed back to March 30, 2018, to avoid competition with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.[54] In January 2018, it was announced the film's release date had been moved up one day to March 29, 2018.[55] The film had its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas on March 11, 2018 (as part of the South by Southwest Film Festival).[4]

text: Warner Bros. Pictures distributed the film worldwide, with Village Roadshow Pictures distributing in several overseas territories.[56]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Ready Player One was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on digital copy on July 3, 2018, and on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-Ray, and DVD on July 24, 2018.[57]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Ready Player One has grossed $137 million in the United States and Canada, and $445 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $582 million.[6] Made on a production budget of $175 million, with about $150 million more spent on global marketing costs, the film needed to gross at least $440 million in order to break-even.[58]

text: North America[edit]

text: In the United States and Canada, Ready Player One was released alongside God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness and Acrimony, and was projected to gross $40–50 million from 4,100 theaters over its first four days.[59] It made $12.1 million on its first day, including $3.75 million from Wednesday night previews. It ended up grossing $41.8 million in its opening weekend (for a four-day total of $53.7 million), marking Spielberg's biggest debut since 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[60] In its second weekend it grossed $25.1 million (a drop of 40%), finishing second behind newcomer A Quiet Place ($50 million).[61] In its third weekend the film made $11.2 million, coming in fourth behind Rampage, A Quiet Place and Truth or Dare.[62] In its fourth weekend the film made $7.4 million, finishing sixth at the box office [63] In its fifth weekend it grossed $2.4 million, a drop of 67% from previous weekend and finishing ninth.[64]

text: Other territories[edit]

text: Worldwide, the film was released day-in-date in 62 countries, including China, where it was expected to make $100–120 million in its opening weekend.[59] It grossed $2.9 million on its first day from 11 countries, including $980,000 from Korea.[65] In China the film made $14.75 million on its first day and earned a score of 9.2 from audiences on Douban (compared to the average 6–7 earned by Hollywood films).[58] It grossed $61.7 million in China in its opening weekend which is the highest opening ever for Warner Bros in said territory. The film's other major opening weekend territories were South Korea ($8.1 million), United Kingdom ($7.3 million), Russia ($6.1 million) and France ($6 million).[66] In its second weekend in China it grossed $42 million, and in third weekend grossed $13.9 million.[67][68] The film grossed $81.7 million in its second weekend overseas, dropping only 35% and is ahead of other newcomers A Quiet Place and Blockers.[67] In its third weekend it grossed $33.8 million overseas dropping 58.6%.[68] On April 21, 2018, the film topped $200 million in China, becoming the tenth-biggest U.S. release ever in the country.[69] In its fourth weekend in China, it grossed $8.24 million finishing third at the box office and has a total gross of $207 million.[70] It grossed $23 million overseas from 67 territories in its fourth weekend.[71] It opened in Japan, its final major market and grossed $4.4 million.[71] In its fifth weekend overseas, it grossed $8.6 million from 63 territories.[72] In China, the weekend was $2.4M to push it past Avatar as the no. 9 Hollywood title ever in the market with $213.8M (RMB 1.34B).[72] Japan's third frame held well during Golden Week with just a 6% drop from the last session. The total there is currently at $17.5M.[73] In its sixth weekend in China, it bumped up 10% from last session to lift the local cume to $220.2M.[73] The film's largest markets after China are Japan ($23.4 million), United Kingdom ($21.3 million), France ($21.5 million), Korea ($18.6 million), and Russia-CIS ($13.1 million).[74]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 353 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ready Player One is a sweetly nostalgic thrill ride that neatly encapsulates Spielberg's strengths while adding another solidly engrossing adventure to his filmography."[75] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 54 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[76] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 82% overall positive score and a 65% "definite recommend".[58]

text: In a review for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico wrote that the film's "overwhelming" nature and non-stop action will likely thrill fans of pop culture; while he observed narrative weaknesses, such as a lack of depth among the supporting characters, he felt that they ultimately do not hinder the film from working "on the level of technical, blockbuster mastery that Spielberg helped define".[77] Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman called the film a "coruscating explosion of pop-culture eye candy", and found the sequence based on The Shining to be "irresistible". However, he also criticized Spielberg's dichotomization of fantasy and reality, as well as the film having "more activity than it does layers".[78] IndieWire's Eric Kohn characterized the film as "an astonishing sci-fi spectacle and a relentless nostalgia trip at once" and praised both the sequence based on The Shining as well as Penn's screenplay, particularly with respect to Mendelsohn's character. Nevertheless, he remarked that the film "drags a bunch in its final third".[79]

text: Alissa Wilkinson, writing for Vox, praised both the quality and quantity of the world building. She also commented on just how dystopian the future portrayed is, where the main characters fight to save the OASIS and the escape from reality it represents, with arguably less concern for the problems of the real world.[80]

text: Monica Castillo was more critical of the film in her review for The Guardian and drew attention to the absence of character arcs, the lack of resolution for plot holes in the novel, and the bloating of scenes in the film by trivia.[81] Matt Bobkin scored the film a 6 out of 10 for Exclaim! saying the film "is not so much a groundbreaking recontextualizing, more doe-eyed affection with no critical commentary".[82] Movie Metropolis noted that the film "is an absolute thrill-ride from start to finish and is pure Spielberg in the very best way" and awarded it 4 out of 5 stars.[83]

text: Film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz praised Ready Player One and noted the undercurrent of sadness present in the film, stating that "I don't think Spielberg gets enough credit for making sad films that most people interpret as happy, and complex films that are immediately dismissed as simple or confused".[84][85][86] Seitz concluded that the film "is a mess, but it is a fascinating and complex one..."[87]

text: Possible sequel[edit]

text: Cline is working on a sequel to the novel.[88] For a sequel to the film, he stated, "[...] I think there's a good chance that, if this one does well, Warner Bros. will want to make a sequel. I don't know if Steven [Spielberg] would want to dive back in, because he would know what he is getting into. He's said that it's the third-hardest film he's made, out of dozens and dozens of movies".[89][90] Co-star Olivia Cooke, and presumably the rest of the cast, is "contracted to sequels".[91]

text: Notes[edit]

text: Jump up ^ IOI employees are called Sixers because their employee IDs are six digits long and begin with the number 6


document_title: The Affair (TV series)

question_text: who plays cole's mom on the affair

question_tokens: who plays cole 's mom on the affair

root

text: The Affair (TV series)

text: Series overview[edit]

text: The Affair explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between Noah Solloway and Alison Lockhart (Dominic West and Ruth Wilson) after they casually meet at the diner where Alison works. The show begins with the Solloway family packing up the family van to stay in the resort town of Montauk, New York. Noah is happily married with four children, but he resents their dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison is a local waitress trying to piece her life and marriage back together in the wake of her young son's tragic accidental death at the age of four. The story of the affair is depicted from Noah's and Alison's perspectives respectively, complete with memory bias which often results in vastly different scenarios.[10] Each episode has two parts, one as remembered by Noah, the other by Alison. Noah's perspective is of a vibrant, playful, and sexy Alison who comes on to him, while her perspective is more cautious, reserved, with a dulled conservative sense of self, and Noah coming on to her.

tag: p

text: In the second season, the narrative is also expanded to include the perspectives of their original spouses, Helen Solloway and Cole Lockhart (Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson), as they all move forward with the dissolution of their marriages and deal with the ramifications.[11] The subsequent death of Alison's brother-in-law, Scott (Colin Donnell), and the ensuing police investigation and criminal trial, are explored in flashforward scenes at the end of most episodes.

text: The third season is set three years later and introduces another perspective, Juliette Le Gall (Irène Jacob), Noah's new love interest.[12]

text: In the fourth season, Noah has moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his younger children Trevor (Jadon Sand) and Stacey (Abigail Dylan Harrison), as Helen and Vik (Omar Metwally) have moved there. Cole and Luisa (Catalina Sandino Moreno) are living together in Montauk, while Alison is working as a grief counselor. Season 4 also features a flashforward storyline and introduces Vik's perspective.[13]

text: Episodes[edit]

text: SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast aired110October 12, 2014 (2014-10-12)December 21, 2014 (2014-12-21)212October 4, 2015 (2015-10-04)December 20, 2015 (2015-12-20)310November 20, 2016 (2016-11-20)January 29, 2017 (2017-01-29)410June 17, 2018 (2018-06-17)August 19, 2018 (2018-08-19)

tag: table

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main cast[edit]

text:
Dominic West as Noah Solloway
Ruth Wilson as Alison Bailey (seasons 1–4)
Maura Tierney as Helen Butler, Noah's ex-wife
Joshua Jackson as Cole Lockhart, Alison's ex-husband
Julia Goldani Telles as Whitney Solloway, Noah's daughter (seasons 1–3, guest season 4)
Jake Siciliano as Martin Solloway, Noah's son (seasons 1–3, guest season 4)
Jadon Sand as Trevor Solloway, Noah's son
Leya Catlett (seasons 1–2) and Abigail Dylan Harrison (season 3–present) as Stacey Solloway, Noah's daughter
Josh Stamberg as Max Cadman, Noah's best friend (season 2, recurring season 1, guest season 3)
Catalina Sandino Moreno as Luisa León, Cole's wife (season 3–present, recurring season 2)
Omar Metwally as Dr. Vikram "Vik" Ullah, Helen's boyfriend (season 3–present, recurring season 2)
Irène Jacob as Juliette Le Gall, a professor at the university where  Noah teaches (season 3)
Sanaa Lathan as Jenelle Wilson, the principal of the charter school where Noah teaches (season 4)

tag: ul

text: Recurring cast[edit]

text:
Victor Williams as Detective Jeffries
John Doman as Bruce Butler, Helen's father
Kathleen Chalfant as Margaret Butler, Helen's mother
Mare Winningham as Cherry Lockhart, Cole's mother
Colin Donnell as Scott Lockhart, Cole's brother
Danny Fischer as Hal Lockhart, Cole's brother
Michael Godere as Caleb Lockhart, Cole's brother
Kaija Matiss as Mary-Kate Lockhart, Hal's wife
Deirdre O'Connell as Athena Bailey, Alison's mother
Nicolette Robinson as Jane, waitress at The Lobster Roll
Darren Goldstein as Oscar Hodges, owner of The Lobster Roll
Stephen Kunken as Harry, a publisher
Lynn Cohen as Joan Bailey, Alison's grandmother (season 1)
Jennifer Esposito as Nina Solloway, Noah's sister (season 2–present)
Richard Schiff as Jon Gottlief, Noah's attorney (season 2)
Joanna Gleason as Yvonne, a publisher who, along with her husband Robert, owns the guest house in which Allison and Noah stay (season 2)
Peter Friedman as Robert, Yvonne's husband (season 2)
Brendan Fraser as John Gunther, a prison guard (season 3)
Reagan and Savannah Grella as Joanie, Alison and Cole's daughter (season 3–present)
Christopher Meyer as Anton Gatewood, an intelligent student at the school where Noah teaches (season 4)
Emily Browning as Sierra, Helen and Vik's neighbor (season 4)
Ramon Rodriguez as Ben Cruz, a Marine veteran and Alison's love interest (season 4)

text: Production[edit]

text: On February 8, 2013, it was announced that Showtime had ordered a pilot for The Affair.[14] The network officially picked up the series on January 16, 2014, with a 10-episode order.[2] On November 10, 2014, Showtime renewed the series for a 10-episode second season;[15] however, it was later changed to 12.[16]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text:
Season

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes

Metacritic

1

90% (50 reviews)

85 (28 reviews)

2

90% (21 reviews)

78 (15 reviews)

3

79% (19 reviews)

72 (8 reviews)

4

90% (21 reviews)

N/A

text: The first season received praise from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 8.18/10. The consensus reads: "Thanks to some smart, creative storytelling and spectacular performances, The Affair is a somber, bewitching exploration of truth and desire."[17] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[18]

text: The second season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 8.04/10. The consensus reads: "The Affair shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show's central crime story to include two new points of view."[19] On Metacritic, it has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20] Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club gave it an "A-" grade and wrote that "With its bold new move to double our number of perspectives, it appears that The Affair will sail over that sophomore slump that has felled so many other Showtime dramas.[21]

text: The third season received continued positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 79%, based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.67/10. The consensus reads: "The Affair adds to its cast of strong characters and deepens the mood, tension, and intrigue, even if the plot sometimes struggles to move forward."[22] On Metacritic, it has a score of 72 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

text: The fourth season received continued positive reviews from critics.[24] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 90%, based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The consensus reads: "The Affair's captivating character study returns with fewer kinks than its previous outing, resulting in a more emotionally grounded season that regains much of the show's initial allure."[25]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Association

Category

Nominee(s)

Result

72nd Golden Globe Awards[26]

Best Actor – Television Series Drama

Dominic West

Nominated

Best Actress – Television Series Drama

Ruth Wilson

Won

Best Television Series – Drama

The Affair

Won

19th Satellite Awards[27]

Best Actress – Television Series Drama

Ruth Wilson

Nominated

Best Television Series – Drama

The Affair

Nominated

67th Writers Guild of America Awards[28]

Best New Series

The Affair

Nominated

6th Critics' Choice Television Awards[29]

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Maura Tierney

Nominated

73rd Golden Globe Awards[30]

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

Maura Tierney

Won

42nd People's Choice Awards[31]

Favorite Premium Cable TV Actor

Joshua Jackson

Nominated

20th Satellite Awards[32]

Best Actor – Television Series Drama

Dominic West

Won

68th Primetime Emmy Awards[33]

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Maura Tierney

Nominated

7th Critics' Choice Television Awards[34]

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Nominated

21st Satellite Awards[35][36]

Best Television Series – Drama

The Affair

Nominated

Best Actor – Television Series Drama

Dominic West

Won

Best Actress – Television Series Drama

Ruth Wilson

Nominated

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

Maura Tierney

Nominated

Location Managers Guild Awards[37]

Outstanding Locations in a Contemporary TV Series

Sean Ilnseher

Nominated

22nd Satellite Awards[38]

Best Television Series – Drama

The Affair

Nominated

Best Actress – Television Series Drama

Ruth Wilson

Nominated

text: Home media[edit]

text: The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 4, 2015. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus special features, including character profiles and costume featurettes.[39] The second season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 16, 2016.[40] The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on April 25, 2017.[41]

text: International broadcast[edit]

text: In Canada, the series premiered simultaneously with the American broadcast on October 12, 2014, and airs on Movie Central and The Movie Network.[42] The series premiered on Showcase in Australia on February 10, 2015.[43] Sky Atlantic bought the rights to air The Affair in the UK with season one beginning in May 2015.[44]


document_title: To the nines

question_text: where did the saying dressed to the nines come from

text: To the nines

text: "To the nines" is an English idiom meaning "to perfection" or "to the highest degree" or to dress "buoyantly and high class". In modern English usage, the phrase most commonly appears as "dressed to the nines" or "dressed up to the nines".[1][2]

text: Origin[edit]

text: The phrase is said to be Scots in origin.[2] The earliest written example of the phrase is from the 1719 Epistle to Ramsay by the Scottish poet William Hamilton:

text:
The bonny Lines therein thou sent me,
How to the nines they did content me.

text: Robert Burns' "Poem on Pastoral Poetry", published posthumously in 1800, also uses the phrase:

text:
Thou paints auld nature to the nines,
In thy sweet Caledonian lines.


document_title: The Office (U.S. TV series)

question_text: who does john krasinski play in the office

question_tokens: who does john krasinski play in the office

text: The Office (U.S. TV series)

text: Production[edit]

text: Crew[edit]

text: List of showrunners throughout the series' run:

text:
Season 1–4: Greg Daniels
Season 5–6: Paul Lieberstein & Jennifer Celotta
Season 7–8: Paul Lieberstein
Season 9: Greg Daniels

text: Greg Daniels served as the senior series showrunner for the first four seasons of the series and developed the British series for American television. He then left the position when he co-created the comedy series Parks and Recreation with fellow Office writer Michael Schur and divided his time between the two series.[3] Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta were named the series showrunners for the fifth season.[4] Celotta left the series after the sixth season and Lieberstein stayed on as showrunner for the following two seasons. He left the showrunner spot after the eighth season for the potential Dwight Schrute spin-off, The Farm, which was eventually passed up by NBC.[5][6] Daniels returned to the showrunner position for the ninth and final season.[7] Other executive producers include cast members B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling.[8][9] Kaling, Novak, Daniels, Lieberstein and Schur made up the original team of writers.[10] Kaling, Novak, and Lieberstein also serve multiple roles on the series, as they play regular characters on the show, as well as write, direct, and produce episodes.[11] Credited with twenty-four episodes, Kaling is the most prolific writer on the staff.[11] Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British series, are credited as executive producer and wrote the pilot and the third-season episode, "The Convict."[12] Merchant later directed the episode "Customer Survey" while Gervais appeared in the episodes "The Seminar" and "Search Committee."[13][14]

text: Randall Einhorn is the most frequent director of the series, with 15 credited episodes.[11] The series also had several guest directors, including Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon,[15][16] both of whom are fans of the series,[17][18] and filmmakers Jon Favreau, Harold Ramis, Jason Reitman, and Marc Webb.[11] Episodes have been directed by several of the actors on the show including Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms, and Brian Baumgartner.[11]

text: Development and writing[edit]

text: Prior to the second episode airing, the writers spent time researching in offices.[19] This process was used for Daniels's other series King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation.[19] The pilot is a direct adaptation of the first episode of the original British series.[20] Daniels chose to go this route because "completely starting from scratch would be a very risky thing to do" owing to the show being an adaptation.[20] He had briefly considered using the idea for "The Dundies" as the pilot episode.[21] After the writers knew who the cast was, they were allowed to write for the actors, which allowed the show to be more original for the following episode, "Diversity Day".[20] Following the mixed reaction toward the first season, the writers attempted to make the series more "optimistic" and to make Michael Scott more likable.[22] They also established the supporting characters of the series more, giving them actual personalities. They also made the lights in the office brighter, which allowed the series to differentiate itself from the British series.[22]

text: A common problem with the scripts, according to Novak, is that they tend to run too long for the regular 22-minute time slot, leading to several cuts.[23] For example, the script for the episode "Search Committee" was initially 75 pages—10 pages too long.[23] A complete script is written for each episode; however, actors are given opportunities to improvise during the shooting process. Fischer said, "Our shows are 100 percent scripted. They put everything down on paper. But we get to play around a little bit, too. Steve and Rainn are brilliant improvisers."[24] This leads to a large number of deleted scenes with almost every episode of The Office, all of which are considered part of the show's canon and storyline by Daniels.[25] Deleted scenes have sometimes been restored in repeats to make episodes longer or draw back people who have seen the episode before to see the bonus footage. In an experiment, a deleted scene from "The Return" was made available over NBC.com and iTunes, explaining the absence of a character over the next several episodes.[25] Daniels hoped that word of mouth among fans would spread the information, but he eventually considered the experiment a failure.[25]

text: Casting[edit]

text: According to Jenna Fischer, the series used an unusual casting process that did not involve a script. The producers would ask the actors several questions and they would respond as the characters they were auditioning for.[26] NBC programmer Kevin Reilly originally suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined. Martin Short, Hank Azaria, and Bob Odenkirk were reported to be interested in the part.[27] In January 2004 Variety reported that Steve Carell, of the Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was in talks to play the role. At the time, he was already committed to another NBC midseason replacement comedy, Come to Papa,[28] but the series was quickly canceled, allowing his full commitment to The Office. Carell later stated that he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned. He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais's characterizations.[29] Other people who were considered or auditioned for the role included Ben Falcone, Alan Tudyk, Jim Zulevic, and Paul F. Tompkins. Rainn Wilson was cast as power-hungry sycophant Dwight Schrute, and he watched every episode of the British series before he auditioned.[30] Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael, a performance that he described as a "terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation"; however, the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much more and hired him. Seth Rogen, Matt Besser, Patton Oswalt, and Judah Friedlander also auditioned for the role.[30]

text: John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were cast in their respective roles as Jim and Pam, the central love interests. Krasinski had attended school with B.J. Novak, and the two were friends.[31][32] Fischer prepared for her audition by looking as boring as possible, creating the original Pam hairstyle.[33] In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Fischer recalled the last stages of the audition process for Pam and Jim, with the producers partnering the different potential Pams and Jims (four of each) together to gauge their chemistry. When Fischer finished her scene with Krasinski, he told her that she was his favorite Pam, to which she reciprocated that he was her favorite Jim.[26] Adam Scott and John Cho both auditioned for the role of Jim, and Kathryn Hahn also auditioned for the role of Pam.[34]

text: The supporting cast includes actors known for their improv work: Angela Kinsey, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Melora Hardin, and David Denman.[35] Kinsey had originally auditioned for Pam. The producers thought she was "too feisty" for the character, but they called her back for the part of Angela Martin, which she won.[36] Flannery first auditioned for the part of Jan Levinson-Gould, before landing the role of Meredith Palmer.[37] Baumgartner originally auditioned for Stanley, but was eventually cast as Kevin.[38] Ken Kwapis, the director of the pilot episode, liked the way Phyllis Smith, a casting associate, read with other actors auditioning so much that he cast her as Phyllis.[39] At the beginning of the third season, Ed Helms and Rashida Jones joined the cast as members of Dunder Mifflin Stamford. While Jones would later leave the cast for a role on Parks and Recreation, in February 2007, NBC announced that Helms was being promoted to a series regular.[40]

text: Four of the show's writers have also performed in front of the camera. B.J. Novak was cast as reluctant temp Ryan Howard after Daniels saw his stand-up act. Paul Lieberstein was cast as human resources director Toby Flenderson on Novak's suggestion after his cold readings of scripts.[35] Greg Daniels was originally unsure where to use Mindy Kaling on-screen in the series until the opportunity came in the script for the second episode, "Diversity Day," where Michael needed to be slapped by a minority. "Since [that slap], I've been on the show" (as Kelly Kapoor), says Kaling.[39] Michael Schur has also made occasional appearances as Dwight's cousin Mose, and consulting producer Larry Wilmore has played diversity trainer Mr. Brown. Plans were made for Mackenzie Crook, Martin Freeman, and Lucy Davis, from the British series, to appear in the third season,[41] but those plans were scrapped due to scheduling conflicts.[42][43]

text: Filming[edit]

text: The Office was filmed with a single-camera setup in a cinéma vérité allowing the look of an actual documentary, with no studio audience or laugh track, allowing its "deadpan" and "absurd" humor to fully come across.[44] The primary vehicle for the show is that a camera crew has decided to film Dunder Mifflin and its employees, seemingly around the clock.[44] The presence of the camera is acknowledged by the characters, especially Michael Scott, who enthusiastically participates in the filming.[45] The characters, especially Jim and Pam, also look towards the camera when Michael creates an awkward situation.[26] The main action of the show is supplemented with talking-head interviews or "confessionals" in which characters speak one on one with the camera crew about the day's events.[26] Actor John Krasinski shot the footage of Scranton for the opening credits after he found out he was cast as Jim. He visited Scranton for research and interviewed employees at actual paper companies.[46]

text: In order to get the feel of an actual documentary, the producers hired cinematographer Randall Einhorn, who is known for directing episodes of Survivor, which allowed the show to have the feel of "rough and jumpy" like an actual documentary.[45] According to producer Michael Schur, the producers to the series would follow the documentary format strictly.[47] The producers would have long discussions over whether a scene could work under the documentary format.[47] For example, in the fourth-season episode "Did I Stutter?," a scene featured Michael going through a long process to go to the bathroom and not pass by Stanley. The producers debated whether that was possible and Einhorn walked through the whole scene in order to see if a camera man could get to all the places in time to shoot the whole scene.[47] Despite the strict nature in the early years of the series, later seasons seem to have loosened the rules on the format, with the camera crew often going into places that actual documentary crews would not, which also changed the writing and comedy style of the series.[48] This inconsistency has received criticism from critics and fans.[48][49]

text: Music[edit]

text:
The Office theme

The song was written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: The theme song for The Office was written by Jay Ferguson and performed by The Scrantones.[50] It is played over the title sequence, which features scenes of Scranton, various tasks around the office and the main cast members. Some episodes of the series use a shortened version of the theme song. Starting with the fourth season, the theme song is played over the closing credits, which previously rolled in silence. The exteriors of buildings in the title sequence are actual buildings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and were shot by cast member John Krasinski.[51] The mockumentary format of the show contains no laugh track, and most of the music is diegetic, with songs either sung or played by the characters or heard on radios, computers, or other devices.[52] However, songs have been played during montages or the closing credits, such as "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John ("The Dundies") and "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton ("E-mail Surveillance").[21] Featured music tends to be well known, and often songs reflect the character, such as Michael's attempt to seem hip by using "Mambo No. 5" and later "My Humps" as his cell phone ringtone.[52] Daniels has said that it does not count as film score as long as it already appeared in the episode.[21]

text: Characters[edit]

text: The Office employs an ensemble cast. Many characters portrayed by The Office cast are based on the original British series. While these characters normally have the same attitude and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show is known for its generally large cast size, with many of its actors and actresses known particularly for their improvisational work. Steve Carell stars as Michael Scott, regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Loosely based on David Brent, Gervais's character in the British series, Scott is a well-intentioned man whose attempts at humor, while seemingly innocent to himself, often offend and annoy his peers and employees, and in some situations lead to reprimanding from his superiors. Rainn Wilson portrays Dwight Schrute, who, based upon Gareth Keenan, is a salesman and the assistant to the regional manager, a fictional title created by Michael.[53] John Krasinski portrays Jim Halpert, a salesman and, in later seasons, co-manager who is often known for his wittiness and his hijinks on Schrute (often accompanied by Pam Beesly). Halpert is based upon Tim Canterbury, and is known to have feelings for Pam, the receptionist.[54] Pam, played by Jenna Fischer, is based on Dawn Tinsley. She is shy, but in many cases a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight.[55] B.J. Novak portrays Ryan Howard, who for the first two seasons is a temporary worker but is promoted to sales representative in the third season. He later ascends to the position of vice president, North East Region and director of new media until his treachery was exposed for corporate fraud and he was fired. After this, he gets a job in a bowling alley and then briefly works for the Michael Scott Paper Company. After all this, and a stint in rehab, he eventually ends up again as the temporary worker at the Scranton branch.[56]

text: The accounting department features Angela Martin, an admitted uptight and hypocritical woman who wishes to keep things orderly and make sure situations remain as serious as possible; Kevin Malone, a lovable, but dim-witted man who revels in juvenile humor and frequently indulges himself with gambling and M&Ms; and Oscar Martinez, who is intelligent but often patronizing and whose homosexuality and Hispanic heritage made him a favorite target for Michael's unintentional off-color comments. Rounding out the office are the stern salesman Stanley Hudson, who barely stood for Michael's constant references to his Black American heritage (he also doesn't like to take part in time-wasting meetings and sometimes sleeps in them or works on crossword puzzles); eccentric quality assurance representative Creed Bratton; the kind and caring saleswoman Phyllis Lapin-Vance, who marries Bob Vance from Vance Refrigeration across the hall from the office; Andy Bernard, a salesman introduced in season three after the closing of the Stamford, Connecticut, branch of Dunder Mifflin and the merging of the two; the bubbly and talkative customer service representative Kelly Kapoor; the promiscuous alcoholic supply relations representative Meredith Palmer; human resources representative Toby Flenderson, who is admittedly hated by, and often the target of abuse by Michael Scott; warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin; warehouse dock worker and Pam's ex-fiancé Roy Anderson, who was fired in the third season; and Michael's former love interest and former vice president for regional sales for Dunder Mifflin Jan Levinson (Jan Levinson-Gould until her divorce in season 2).

text: Toward the end of season five, the bubbly and naive Erin Hannon is introduced as Pam's replacement at reception following Pam's short stint at the Michael Scott Paper Company and her subsequent move to sales. A story arc at the end of season four has Holly Flax transferred to the office as Toby's replacement. She acts as a love interest for Michael, as they share very similar personalities. Jo Bennett is the CEO of Sabre and Gabe Lewis, introduced in the middle of season six, is a Sabre employee who is assigned to the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch as the regional director of sales. In season nine Clark Green and Pete Miller joined as two new customer service representatives to attempt to catch up on the ignored customer services complaints that Kelly had dismissed while she worked at Dunder Mifflin. Clark is later moved to sales.

text: Initially the actors who portray the other office workers were credited as guest stars before they were named series regulars during the second season.[57] The show's large ensemble has been mainly praised by critics and led to the series winning two Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.[58] Carell was reportedly paid $175,000 per episode starting with the third season.[59] Krasinski and Fischer were paid around $20,000 for the beginning of the series.[59] Starting with the fourth season, the two started getting paid around $100,000 per episode.[59]

text: Season synopsis[edit]

text: A typical episode for a half-hour time slot runs 20-and-a-half minutes.[60] The final episode of season two introduces the first of what would be several super-sized episodes that are approximately 28-minute running time for a 40-minute time slot.[61] Season three introduces the first of occasional hour-long episodes (approximately 42-minute running time; suitable for being shown as two separate normal episodes).[62]

text: Season 1[edit]

text: The first season consists of six episodes.

text: The series starts by introducing the office's workers via a tour given by the branch manager Michael Scott for both the camera crew and a first-day temp Ryan Howard.[63] The audience learns salesman Jim Halpert has a crush on receptionist Pam Beesly, who helps him play pranks on co-worker Dwight Schrute, even though she is engaged to Roy, who works in the building's lower-level warehouse. News spreads throughout the office that Dunder Mifflin's corporate headquarters is planning to downsize an entire branch, leading to general anxiety, but Michael chooses to deny or downplay the realities of the situation in order to maintain employee morale.

text: Season 2[edit]

text: The second season is the series' first 22-episode season, and has its first 40-minute "super-sized" episode.

text: Many workers seen in the background of the first season are developed into secondary characters, and romantic relationships begin to develop between some of the characters. Michael spends the night with his boss Jan, in the wake of the latter's divorce, but does not sleep with her.[64] Dwight and Angela become romantically involved,[65] but keep the relationship a secret from everyone else. Kelly develops a crush on Ryan, and they start dating. When Roy sets a date for his wedding to Pam,[66] Jim grows depressed and considers transferring to the Stamford, Connecticut branch, but tells Pam in the season finale that he loves her, even though Pam still insists she will marry Roy. The two kiss, but Jim transfers to the Stamford branch soon after.[67] The general threat of downsizing continues throughout the season as well.

text: Season 3[edit]

text: The third season consists of 17 half-hour episodes, four 40-minute "super-sized" episodes, and two one-hour episodes.

text: The season starts with a brief flashback to the last episode of season 2, "Casino Night", when Jim kissed Pam and confessed his feelings for her. Jim briefly transfers to Stamford branch after Pam confirms her commitment to Roy. Corporate is later forced to merge the Stamford branch and staff into the Scranton branch.[68] Michael takes this merger very seriously. Included in the transfer to Scranton are Karen Filippelli, with whom Jim has developed a relationship, and the anger-prone Andy Bernard. The rest of the Stamford branch are irrelevant considering they all quit within the first few episodes of them being there. Pam is newly single after calling off her marriage and relationship to Roy prior to the merger, and Jim's unresolved feelings for her and new relationship with Karen lead to shifting tensions amongst the three. Meanwhile, Michael and Jan's relationship escalates which causes them both to behave erratically on the job. On the other hand, Dwight and Angela continue their steamy secret relationship. In the season's finale, Jim, Karen, and Michael interview for a corporate position that turns out to be Jan's, who is fired that day for poor performance. Jim wins and rejects the offer off-screen,[69] opting instead to return to Scranton without Karen and ask Pam out on a date, which she joyfully accepts. In the final scene, we learn Ryan has been awarded Jan's job due to his business school credentials.[70]

text: Season 4[edit]

text: NBC ordered a full fourth season of 30 half-hour episodes, but ended with only 19 due to a halt in production caused by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[71][72] The season consists of 9 half-hour episodes, and 5 hour-long episodes to make up the 19 total episodes of material created.

text: Karen has left the Scranton branch after her breakup with Jim and becomes regional manager at the Utica branch.[73][74] A self-employed Jan moves herself and her candle business in with Michael, until the dissolution of their relationship midway through the season. After Dwight's crude (though well-intentioned) method of euthanasia of Angela's ailing cat without her permission,[75] she leaves him for Andy, leading Dwight into depression. Ryan, in his new corporate life in New York City, attempts to modernize Dunder Mifflin with a new website for online sales; he also learns that his boss, David Wallace, favors Jim, and thus Ryan attempts to sabotage Jim's career. Ryan is soon arrested and fired for committing fraud related to the website's sales numbers. Toby, embarrassed after accidentally revealing affection for Pam and resting his hand on her leg, announces he is moving to Costa Rica, and is replaced by Holly Flax, who quickly shows fondness toward Michael. In Holly's first full episode, she is led to believe, by Dwight, that Kevin is suffering from some sort of intellectual disability. Pam decides to follow her artistic interests and attends a three-month graphic design course at the Pratt Institute in New York City. In the season finale Andy proposes to Angela, who reluctantly agrees. Phyllis then catches Dwight and Angela having sex in the office.[76]

text: Season 5[edit]

text: The fifth season consists of 28 half-hours of material, divided into 24 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes, one of which aired after Super Bowl XLIII.[77]

text: Jim proposes to Pam at a gas station halfway between them because he could not wait. Pam ultimately returns from New York to Scranton, where Jim has bought his parents' house for the two of them. Having avoided jail and only been sentenced to community service, Ryan dyes his hair and starts working for a bowling alley. Michael initiates a romance with Holly until she is transferred to the Nashua, New Hampshire, branch and the relationship ends. When Andy is made aware of Dwight and Angela's continued affair, both men leave her.[78] Newly hired Vice President Charles Miner implements a rigid managerial style over the branch that causes Michael to resign in protest.[79] Michael opens the Michael Scott Paper Company, enticing Pam and Ryan to join as salespeople, and though his business model is ultimately unsustainable, Dunder Mifflin's profits are immediately threatened.[80] The members of the Michael Scott Paper Company enjoy throwing cheese balls into each other's mouths and they have a morning cheer to boost morale. In a buyout of the Michael Scott Paper Company, the three are rehired with Pam promoted to sales and Ryan returning as a temp. During the chaos, new receptionist Erin is hired to fill the vacancy originally left by Pam. The season ends with a scene that obviously announces Pam's pregnancy.

text: Season 6[edit]

text: The sixth season consists of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 22 half-hour episodes and two hour-long episodes.

text: Jim and Pam marry and have a baby named Cecelia Marie Halpert.[81] Meanwhile, Andy and Erin develop mutual interest in one another, but find their inherent awkwardness inhibits his attempts to ask her out on a date. Rumors of bankruptcy begin to surround Dunder Mifflin, and by Christmas, Wallace announces to the branch that Dunder Mifflin has accepted a buyout from Sabre Corporation, a printer company. While Wallace and other executives are let go, the Scranton office survives due to its relative success within the company. In the season finale, Dwight buys the office park. Michael agrees to make an announcement to the press regarding a case of faulty printers. When Jo Bennet, Sabre CEO, asks how she can repay him, Michael responds that she could bring Holly back to the Scranton branch.[82]

text: Season 7[edit]

text: The seventh season consists of 26 half-hours of material, divided into 21 half-hour episodes, one "super-sized" episode, and two hour-long episodes.[83]

text: This is the final season for Steve Carell, who plays the lead character Michael Scott, as Carell wanted to move on after his contract expired during this season.[84] Beginning with this season, Zach Woods, who portrays Gabe Lewis, was promoted to a series regular.[85] Erin and Gabe have begun a relationship, much to Andy's chagrin, and Andy attempts to win Erin's affection back. Michael's former girlfriend, Holly, returns to Scranton to fill in for Toby who is doing jury duty for the "Scranton Strangler" trial. Michael and Holly eventually restart their relationship. After the two get engaged, Michael then reveals he will be leaving Scranton to go to Colorado with Holly in order to support her elderly parents. Angela starts dating the senator, while Pam and Jim are still adjusting to parenthood. After Michael's replacement (Will Ferrell) is seriously injured, Jo creates a search committee to interview candidates and choose a new manager for the office.

text: Season 8[edit]

text: The eighth season consists of 24 episodes.

text: James Spader reprises his role as Robert California, the new CEO of Dunder Mifflin/Sabre.[86] Andy is then promoted to regional manager and works hard to make a good impression on Robert, and asks Dwight to be his number two.[87] Pam and Jim are expecting their second child, Phillip, at the start of the season, to coincide with Fischer's real-life pregnancy.[88] Angela is pregnant with her first son, also named Philip, with State Senator Robert Lipton (although it is implied that Dwight Schrute is actually the child's biological father). Darryl starts falling for new warehouse foreman, Val.[89] Dwight is tasked with traveling to Tallahassee, Florida, to assist Sabre special projects manager Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate) in launching a chain of retail stores, along with Jim, Ryan, Stanley, Erin, and new office temp Cathy Simms. Cathy is also revealed to have ulterior motives for the trip, as she intends to seduce Jim, but fails.[90] Robert later kills the retail store project, and Erin decides to stay in Florida as an elderly woman's live-in helper. Andy goes to Florida and wins back Erin, but this allows Nellie to claim the manager position as her own. Robert tells Andy that he has been demoted back to a salesman, but he refuses to accept the news, which causes him to be fired. Andy becomes motivated to begin a Dunder Mifflin comeback and joins with former CFO David Wallace to buy Dunder Mifflin back from Sabre, putting Sabre completely out of business and giving Andy the manager position once again.

text: Season 9[edit]

text: The final season consists of 25 episodes.

text: Andy, recently returning from Outward Bound manager's training, reverts to his arrogant earlier season personality, abandoning both Erin and the office to travel around the Caribbean with his brother. In his absence, Erin strikes up a romance with new customer service rep Pete, who along with Clark, another new character, replaces Kelly, who left for Ohio with her new husband (Ryan also moves to Ohio for "unrelated reasons").

text: Meanwhile, Jim receives an exciting opportunity from an old college friend who offers him a job at Athlead, a sports marketing company based in Philadelphia. Darryl also jumps on board, but the distance and dedication to Athlead hurts Jim's relationship with Pam.

text: Angela also must deal with her husband's infidelity with Oscar. She also deals with her lingering attraction to Dwight, who inherits his family's beet farm. Dwight receives more good news when David Wallace handpicks him to be the new manager after Andy quits to pursue an acting career, which quickly ends when he embarrasses himself at an a cappella singing competition that turns into a viral web sensation. Dwight later makes Jim his assistant to the regional manager and the two officially end their grudge.

text: After Jim reconciles with Pam, choosing to stay in Scranton over Philadelphia, Dwight professes his love for Angela and finally marries her. In the series finale, taking place one year after the release of the documentary, the employees reunite for Dwight and Angela's wedding, for which Michael returns (with help from Jim who was the person Dwight first asked to be his best man) to serve as the best man.

text: Kelly and Ryan run away together, Nellie now lives in Poland and "adopts" Ryan's abandoned baby, Erin meets her birth parents, Andy gets a job at Cornell, Stanley retires to Florida, Kevin and Toby are both fired with the former buying a bar and the latter moving to New York City to become an author, and Oscar runs for State Senate. Jim and Pam, at her persuasion, move to Austin to open a new branch of Athleap (previously Athlead) with Darryl (Dwight "fires" them to give them both severance packages), and Creed is arrested for his many crimes.

text: Product placement[edit]

text: The Office has had product placement deals with Staples[91] and the Olympic balers,[92] as well as mentioning in dialogue or displaying clear logos for products such as Sandals Resorts, HP, Apple, and Gateway computers, and Activision's Call of Duty video game series. In "The Merger", Kevin Malone uses a Staples-branded shredding machine to shred a Staples-branded CD-R and many other nonpaper items, including a salad.[91] As with HP, Cisco Systems, a supplier of networking and telephone equipment, pays for product placement, which can be seen on close-up shots of the Cisco IP telephones. Some products have additional branding labels attached; this can be clearly seen with the HP photo printer on Toby's desk in season 6, and less noticeably with the Cisco phones.[93] In "The Secret" Michael takes Jim to Hooters[94] to discuss Jim's feelings for Pam.

text: Many products featured are not part of product placement agreements, but rather inserted by writers as products the characters would use to create realism under the guise of a documentary. Chili's restaurants were used for filming in "The Dundies" and "The Client," as the writers believed they were realistic choices for a company party and business lunch.[95][96][97] Though not an explicit product placement, the producers of the show had to allow Chili's to have final approval of the script before filming, causing a scene of "The Dundies" to be hastily rewritten when the chain objected to the original version.[96] Apple Inc. received over four minutes of publicity for the iPod when it was used as a much-desired gift in "Christmas Party," though the company did not pay for the placement.[98] The travel website TripAdvisor.com was featured during Season 4 when after a visit to Dwight's "agritourism" bed and breakfast, Schrute Farms, Jim and Pam post an online review about their stay. The show reportedly approached the travel review website about using their name on the show and TripAdvisor set up a review page for the fictional B&B, which itself received hundreds of reviews.[99] The appearance of Second Life in the episode "Local Ad" was rated eighth in the top ten most effective product placements of 2007.[100]

text: Reception and legacy[edit]

text: Critical reviews and commentary[edit]

text: Before the show aired, Ricky Gervais acknowledged that there were feelings of hesitation from certain viewers.[101] The first season of The Office was met with a mixed response from critics with some of them comparing it to the short-lived NBC series Coupling, which was also based on a British version.[102][103] The New York Daily News called it "so diluted there's little left but muddy water," and USA Today called it a "passable imitation of a miles-better BBC original."[104] A Guardian Unlimited review panned its lack of originality, stating, "(Steve Carell) just seems to be trying too hard.... Maybe in later episodes when it deviates from Gervais and Merchant's script, he'll come into his own. But right now he's a pale imitation."[105] Tom Shales of the Washington Post said it was "not the mishmash that [Americanized version of Coupling] turned out to be, but again the quality of the original show causes the remake to look dim, like when the copying machine is just about to give out."[103]

text:
"The Office has one of the best casts on television.... It also has created several compelling characters and touching relationships, all of which is fairly remarkable for a half-hour comedy."

—Travis Fickett of IGN in June 2007[106]

tag: div

text: The second season was better received. James Poniewozik of Time remarked, "Producer Greg Daniels created not a copy but an interpretation that sends up distinctly American work conventions ... with a tone that's more satiric and less mordant.... The new boss is different from the old boss, and that's fine by me."[107] He named it the second best TV show of 2006 after Battlestar Galactica.[107] Entertainment Weekly writer Mark Harris echoed these sentiments a week later, stating, "Thanks to the fearless Steve Carell, an ever-stronger supporting cast, and scripts that spew American corporate absurdist vernacular with perfect pitch, this undervalued remake does the near impossible—it honors Ricky Gervais' original and works on its own terms."[108] The A.V. Club reviewer Nathan Rabin expressed its views on the show's progression: "After a rocky start, The Office improved immeasurably, instantly becoming one of TV's funniest, sharpest shows. The casting of Steve Carell in the Gervais role proved to be a masterstroke. The American Office is that rarest of anomalies: a remake of a classic show that both does right by its source and carves out its own strong identity."[109]

text: The series has been included on several top TV series lists. The show placed #61 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.[110] Time's James Poniewozik named it the second-best TV series of 2006,[107] and the sixth-best returning series of 2007, out of ten TV series.[111] He also included it on his "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME" list.[112] The show was also named the best show of 2006 by BuddyTV.[113] while Paste named it the sixth-best sitcom of 2010.[114] In 2013 the Writers Guild of America placed it at #66 on their list of 101 Best Written TV Series.[115]

text: The show has some superficial similarities to the comic strip Dilbert, which also features employees coping with an inept superior. John Spector, CEO of The Conference Board, says that both show the impact a leader can have, for good or bad. Dilbert creator Scott Adams also touts the similarities: "The lesson from The Office and from Dilbert is that people are often dysfunctional, and no amount of training can fix it."[116] A labor-affiliated group praised the episode "Boys and Girls" for what it considered an unusually frank depiction of union busting on American television.[117] Metacritic, a review aggregation website, graded only the first, third, sixth, and final seasons. However, it denoted that all four of them received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, awarding a 61, 85, 78, and 64 score—out of 100—to each of them, respectively.[118][119][120][121] It later named it the thirteenth most mentioned series on "Best of Decade" top-ten lists.[122]

text:
"The Office now is a pale, listless shadow of what it used to be."

—Alan Sepinwall of HitFix in September 2011, during the show's eighth season.[123]

text: The last few seasons were criticized for a dip in quality. The sixth season received criticisms for a lack of stakes for the characters.[124][125][126] Other critics and fans have also criticized the dragging out of the Jim and Pam romance.[127] The Office co-creator Ricky Gervais wrote in his blog, referring to "Search Committee," particularly Warren Buffett's guest appearance, "If you're going to jump a shark, jump a big one," and compared the episode to the Chris Martin episode of Gervais's other series, Extras (although he later said on his website, "I fucking didn't [diss The Office], that's for sure").[128] Some critics said the series should have ended after the departure of Steve Carell.[129][130] In an IAmA interview on Reddit, Rainn Wilson felt that the eighth season possessed some mistakes "creatively," such as the chemistry between Spader and Helms, which he called "a bit dark" and argued that the show should have gone for a "brighter and more energized" relationship.[131] Despite this, there are later-series episodes that have received critical acclaim, including "Stress Relief,"[132] "Niagara",[133] "Garage Sale",[134] "Goodbye, Michael",[135] "Dwight Christmas",[136] "A.A.R.M.",[137] and "Finale".[138]

text: Awards[edit]

text: The series received 42 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, with five wins.[139] It won for Outstanding Comedy Series in season two, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt"), Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Jeffrey Blitz for "Stress Relief"), and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series (David Rogers and Claire Scanlon for "Finale"). Many cast and crew members have expressed anger that Carell did not receive an Emmy award for his performance in the series.[140][141] Despite this, Carell won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2006. The series was also named the best TV series by the American Film Institute in 2006 and 2008,[142][143] won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2006 and 2007[58] and won a Peabody Award in 2006.[144]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: Premiering on Thursday, March 24, 2005, after an episode of The Apprentice on NBC, The Office brought in 11.2 million viewers in the U.S., winning its time slot.[104] When NBC moved the series to its intended Tuesday night slot, it lost nearly half its audience with only 5.9 million viewers.[145] The program averaged 5.4 million viewers, ranking it #102 for the 2004–05 U.S. television season.[146] "Hot Girl," the first season's finale, rated a 2.2 with a 10 audience measurement share. Episodes were also rerun on CNBC.[147]

text: As the second season started, the success of Carell's hit summer movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin and online sales of episodes at iTunes helped the show.[148] The increase in viewership led NBC to move the series to the "Must See TV" Thursday night in January 2006, where ratings continued to grow. By the 2005–06 season, it placed #67 (tied with 20/20). It averaged 8 million viewers with a 4.0/10 rating/share among viewers ages 18–49, and was up 80% in viewers from the year before and up 60% in viewers ages 18–49.[149] The series ranked as NBC's highest rated scripted series during its run.[150] The highest rated episode of the series was "Stress Relief," which was watched by 22.9 million viewers. This episode was aired right after Super Bowl XLIII.[151] While later seasons dropped in the ratings, the show was still one of NBC's highest rated shows, and in October 2011 it was reported that it cost $178,840 per 30-second commercial, the most for any NBC scripted series.[152]

text: Nielsen ratings[edit]

text:
Season
TV season
Timeslot (ET)
Premiered
Ended
Viewership rank
18-49 rank
Viewers
(in millions)
18-49 rating

Date
Premiere
viewers
(in millions)
Date
Finale
viewers
(in millions)

1
2004–05
Thursday 9:30 pm ("Pilot")
Tuesday 9:30 pm
March 24, 2005
11.20[153]
April 26, 2005
4.80[153]
102[154]
82[154]
5.40[154]
2.5/6[154]

2
2005–06
Tuesday 9:30 pm
(September 20 – December 6, 2005)
Thursday 9:30 pm
(January 5 – May 11, 2006)
September 20, 2005
9.00[153]
May 11, 2006
7.70[153]
67[155]
N/A
8.0[155]
4.0/10[155]

3
2006–07
Thursday 8:30 pm
September 21, 2006
9.10[153]
May 17, 2007
7.90[153]
68[156]
28[156]
8.30[156]
4.1/11[156]

4
2007–08
Thursday 9:00 pm
September 27, 2007
9.70[153]
May 15, 2008
8.07[153]
77[157]
8.04[157]
2.8[157]

5
2008–09
September 25, 2008
9.20[158]
May 14, 2009
6.72[159]
52[160]
9.04[160]
3.1[160]

6
2009–10
September 17, 2009
8.20[161]
May 20, 2010
6.60[162]
41[163]
11[163]
8.73[163]
4.5/11[163]

7
2010–11
September 23, 2010
8.40[164]
May 19, 2011
7.29[165]
53[166]
11[166]
7.73[166]
4.0/10[166]

8
2011–12
September 22, 2011
7.64[167]
May 10, 2012
4.49[168]
78[169]
29[169]
6.51[169]
3.4/9[169]

9
2012–13
September 20, 2012
4.28[170]
May 16, 2013
5.69[171]
88[172]
41[172]
5.06[172]
2.6/7[172]

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: The city of Scranton, long known mainly for its industrial past as a coal mining and rail center,[173] has embraced, and ultimately has been redefined by the show. "We're really hip now," says the mayor's assistant.[51] The Dunder Mifflin logo is on a lamppost banner in front of Scranton City Hall, as well as the pedestrian bridge to The Mall at Steamtown. The Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, whose tower is shown in the opening credits, plans to add it to the tower as well.[174] Newspapers in other Northeastern cities have published travel guides to Scranton locations for tourists interested in visiting places mentioned in the show.[173][174][175] Scranton has become identified with the show outside the United States as well. In a 2008 St. Patrick's Day speech in its suburb of Dickson City, former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Bertie Ahern identified the city as the home of Dunder Mifflin.[176]

text: The inaugural The Office convention was held downtown in October 2007. Notable landmarks, some of which have been settings for the show, that served as venues include the University of Scranton, the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel and the Mall at Steamtown. Cast appearances were made by B.J. Novak, Ed Helms, Oscar Nunez, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Leslie David Baker, Mindy Kaling, Craig Robinson, Melora Hardin, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Bobby Ray Shafer, and Andy Buckley. Writer appearances, besides Novak and Kaling, were made by Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Jennifer Celotta, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky, Justin Spitzer, Anthony Ferrell, Ryan Koh, Lester Lewis, and Jason Kessler. Not present were writer-actor Paul Lieberstein (who was originally going to make an appearance), Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, and Jenna Fischer.[177]

text: On an episode of The Daily Show, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, reportedly a devoted fan of the show, jokingly told Jon Stewart he might take Dwight Schrute as his running mate.[178] Rainn Wilson later accepted on Dwight Schrute's behalf while on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. After the airing of "Garage Sale", where the character of Michael Scott decides to move to Colorado, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper issued a press release appointing Scott to the position of director of paper distribution in the Department of Natural Resources.[179]

text: The show is often paid tribute by the band Relient K. Band member Matt Thiessen is a fan of The Office, and during concerts will often perform a self-described "love song" about the series, titled "The Ballad of Dunder Mifflin," followed by him and the band playing the show's opening theme.[180]

text: Other broadcasts[edit]

text: Aside from NBC, The Office has gone into off-network syndication in the United States. It previously ran on local stations and TBS. After a few years absent from conventional television, it was announced in December 2017 that Comedy Central had picked up the entire series, for its second syndication cycle. Comedy Central started airing The Office on January 15, 2018.[181] In the United Kingdom, the show was named in listings magazines (but not onscreen) as The Office: An American Workplace when it was originally aired on ITV2.[182]

text: Other media[edit]

text: Online releases[edit]

text: Episodes from The Office were among the first shows available for download from the iTunes Store beginning in December 2005. In 2006, ten internet-exclusive webisodes featuring some of the characters on The Office aired on NBC.com. "Producer's Cuts" (containing approximately ten additional minutes of material) of the episodes "Branch Closing" and "The Return" were also made available on NBC.com. The Office also became available for download from Amazon.com's Unbox video downloads in 2006. Sales of new The Office episodes on iTunes ceased in 2007 due to a dispute between NBC and Apple ostensibly over pricing.[183] As of September 9, 2008 The Office was put back on the iTunes Store, and can be bought in HD and Regular format. Netflix also offers the show for online viewing by subscribers, in addition to traditional DVD rental. The Office is also available on Microsofts Zune Marketplace. On December 13, 2017, Comedy Central announced that they had acquired all nine seasons of the show from NBCUniversal in a non-exclusive deal, and some episodes will be made available to stream on Comedy Central's official website and mobile app after January 15, 2018.[184]

text: Of the 12.4 million total viewings of "Fun Run", the fourth season's premiere, 2.7 million, or 22%, were on a computer via online streaming. "The Office", said The New York Times, "is on the leading edge of a sharp shift in entertainment viewing that was thought to be years away: watching television episodes on a computer screen is now a common activity for millions of consumers." It was particularly popular with online viewers, an NBC researcher said, because as an episode-driven sitcom without special effects it was easy to watch on smaller monitors such as those found on laptops and iPods.[185] Between the online viewings and those who use digital video recorders, 25–50% of the show's viewers watch it after its scheduled airtime.[186]

text: The show's Internet success became an issue in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Daniels and many of the cast members who double as writers posted a video to YouTube shortly after the strike began, pointing out how little, if any, they received in residuals from online and DVD viewing. "You're watching this on the Internet, a thing that pays us zero dollars," Schur said. "We're supposed to get 11 cents for every two trillion downloads." The writers were particularly upset that they weren't compensated for the Daytime Emmy Award-winning summer webisodes "The Accountants", which NBC considered promotional material despite the embedded commercials.[187]

text: Promotional[edit]

text: The show's success has resulted in expansion outside of television. Characters have appeared in promotional materials for NBC, and a licensed video game—The Office—was released in 2007.[188][189] In 2008 two games were introduced via Pressman Toy Corp: The Office Trivia Board Game and The Office DVD Board Game.[190] In 2009, The Office Clue was released, and The Office Monopoly was released in 2010. Other merchandise, from T-shirts and a bobblehead doll of Dwight Schrute[191] to more office-specific items such as Dunder Mifflin copy paper[192] and parodies of the Successories motivational poster series featuring the cast[193] are available. Dunder Mifflin has two websites,[194] and the cast members maintain blogs both as themselves and in character.

text: Cast blogs[edit]

text: Several members of the cast maintained blogs. These include Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, and Brian Baumgartner, who posted regularly during the season.[195] Rainn Wilson wrote in character on "Schrute Space" on NBC.com, which is updated periodically. However, he stopped writing the blog himself.[196] It is unknown whether Creed Bratton authors "Creed Thoughts," the blog attributed to his character.[197]

text: Home video releases[edit]

text:
Season
Region 1 release date
Region 2 release date
Region 4 release date
Episodes
Discs
Bonus features

1
August 16, 2005
April 10, 2006
August 16, 2006
6
1
Deleted scenes from all episodes, five commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes.

2
September 12, 2006
January 28, 2008
April 4, 2007
22
4
Deleted scenes from every episode, ten commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes, The Accountants webisodes, Faces of Scranton video, blooper reel, 17 fake public service announcements, Olympics promos and "Steve on Steve" promos.

3
September 4, 2007
July 21, 2008
August 20, 2008 (Part 1)
April 22, 2009 (Part 2)
25
4
Deleted scenes, eight commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes,[198] "Kevin Cooks Stuff in The Office", 2006 NBC Primetime Preview, Toby wraparound promos, Dwight Schrute music video, Joss Whedon interview, blooper reel, Lazy Scranton video, and a 58th Annual Emmy Awards excerpt. A special edition for Target called the "Nifty Gifty" set also contains footage from the Museum of TV festival and script facsimile.

4
September 2, 2008
June 14, 2010
September 2, 2009 (Part 1)
December 2, 2009 (Part 2)
19
4
Deleted scenes, outtakes, Second Life footage, The Office Convention invitation, The Office Convention: Writer’s Block Panel, "Goodbye, Toby" music video, four commentary tracks by cast and crew on select episodes.[199]

5
September 8, 2009
February 7, 2011
September 29, 2010 (Part 1)
March 2, 2011 (Part 2)
28
5
Deleted scenes, outtakes, ten commentaries by the cast and crew, "The Academy of Art and Sciences presents, 'The Office,' Summer Olympic promos, Super Bowl promos, Kevin's Loan webisodes, and The Outburst webisodes.[200]

6
September 7, 2010
January 30, 2012
August 4, 2011 (Part 1)
November 9, 2011 (Part 2)
26
5
Deleted scenes, outtakes, gag reel, cast and crew commentaries, two extended episodes, minisode The Podcast, "Welcome to Sabre" corporate welcome video, promos.[201]

Overtime
November 16, 2010
N/A
N/A
N/A
1
The Accountants, Kevin's Loan, The Outburst, Blackmail, Subtle Sexuality and The Mentor webisodes, The Podcast minisode, The Office Convention: Cast Q&A, Paley: Inside The Writer's Room, Subtle Sexuality commentary with Mindy Kaling, B. J. Novak, and Ellie Kemper, Blackmail video commentary with Creed Bratton, Subtle Sexuality music video, Dwight Schrute music video, Lazy Scranton video, Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin ad and fake PSAs.[202]

7
September 6, 2011
September 3, 2012
August 22, 2012 (Part 1)
November 7, 2012 (Part 2)
26
5
Deleted scenes, blooper reel, "The Third Floor" webisodes, cast and crew commentaries on five episodes, producer's extended cuts of "Training Day" and "Search Committee," Threat Level Midnight: The Movie (A Michael Scott Joint)

8
September 4, 2012
April 7, 2014
February 13, 2013 (Part 1)
August 8, 2013 (Part 2)
24
5
Deleted scenes, blooper reel, "The Girl Next Door" webisodes, producer's extended cuts of "Angry Andy" and "Fundraiser"

9
September 3, 2013[203]
September 15, 2014
February 13, 2014 (Part 1)
June 19, 2014 (Part 2)
25
5
Deleted scenes, gag reel, rare audition footage

text: Proposed spin-offs[edit]

text: A spin-off to the series was proposed in 2008,[204] with a pilot episode expected to debut as the Super Bowl lead-out program in 2009.[205] However, The Office's creative team instead decided to develop Parks and Recreation as a separate series.[206]

text: Another spin-off starring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute running a bed-and-breakfast and beet farm, titled The Farm, was proposed in early 2012.[5][207] In October 2012, however, NBC decided not to go forward with the series.[208] The backdoor pilot episode instead aired as part of the ninth and final season of The Office on March 14, 2013.[207][209]